Islamist rebels chased Mali's army from a garrison town deep in its own territory on Monday, striking back at the weakest link in a nascent coalition after French fighter jets hit militant bases deep in the Sahara.

The surprise move by what witnesses called a well-armed rebel force highlights the risk that the French campaign in Mali could widen as al Qaeda militants spread across the heart of the world's largest desert.

The advancing fighters took control of the small barracks town of Diabaly after attacking and defeating the Malian army there, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

The once-remote conflict in northern Mali is now within 250 miles of Mali's capital, Bamako, posing a grave test for the country's ramshackle military and adding to the mounting pressure for other foreign forces to get involved.

Mr. Fabius said the U.S. was helping with transport, communication and intelligence-gathering capabilities, while the U.K., Belgium and Denmark were providing transport assistance. Several West African countries, including Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, have pledged to dispatch hundreds of soldiers, but the timetable for their deployment has yet to be determined. Algeria, which has traditionally opposed intervention, allowed French combat aircraft to fly through its airspace to reach targets in Mali on Sunday.

The European Union said it would accelerate the deployment of its own mission to train Malian soldiers, but ruled out any potential combat engagement.

The French probably do not have the resources to fight this war by themselves.
The Islamists have a big store of arms and a mobility that makes jet airstrikes of little importance. The first thing they need to do is control the flow of fuel into the region. But that will take a lot of road recce flights with armed helps.
They can prevent the Islamists from taking Bomako, but that is about it.

The French probably do not have the resources to fight this war by themselves.
The Islamists have a big store of arms and a mobility that makes jet airstrikes of little importance. The first thing they need to do is control the flow of fuel into the region. But that will take a lot of road recce flights with armed helos.
They can prevent the Islamists from taking Bomako, but that is about it.

Mali is pretty open country, mostly desert and savannah. Ought to be good hunting grounds for helicopter gunships if the French have any. One problem--it also is a huge country--twice the size of Texas.

Rockets, bombs and strafing are nice, but not necessary destructive enough if you don’t have enough air assets to strike the whole target area effectively.

Napalm covers everything in its path, and its path can be a long (and wide one), depending on how the canisters are dropped (two, side by side, simultaneously), or single drop in a line.

I suspect that they French are trying to fight this war on the cheap, like some other power I know. That is NOT the way to fight in the desert. You hit the enemy with everything you can bring onto them. Again, Napalm is the weapon of choice for mass destruction of enemy forces.

Also, it is a weapon that creates massive fear in the enemy. It was, according to my combat friends, the most feared American weapon in Vietnam.

Time for the French to take the croissants off the table and put on some iron gauntlets.

France has the resources to fight this war—most modern nations do—the question is, do they have the resolve. Yes, they need more troops. The foreign Legion would be ideal in this fight and should be sent in. Bombing alone will not work—we delude ourselves into thinking these “bloodless” tactics will really work. We must be willing to put in men with guns and be willing to wade in carnage. This could be the turning point for the west-—the place where we draw a line in the sand.

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